The landmark EU anti-deforestation Regulation (EUDR) enters into force.

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We, in our Circular Shield team, are happy to promote the forest conservation topic in the core of our project Municipal Material Cycle and therefore we are happy to inform partners and supporters about legislative news.

What is the EUDR?

On 29 June 2023, the Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) entered into force. The main driver of these processes is the expansion of agricultural land that is linked to the production of commodities like soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber and some of their derived products, such as leather, chocolate, tyres, or furniture. As a major economy and consumer of these commodities linked to forest degradation, the EU is partly responsible for this problem and it wants to lead the way to solving it.

The EUDR's main goal is to reduce the EU's impact on global deforestation by promoting the consumption of ‘deforestation-free’ products.

What are objectives of EUDR?

In line with the 2019 Communication on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests, the EU aims to improve the health of existing forests, and significantly increase sustainable, biodiverse forest coverage worldwide.

The EU has five main priorities

  1. reduce the footprint of EU consumption on land and encourage EU consumption of products from deforestation-free supply chains
  2. work in partnership with producer countries to reduce pressures on forests
  3. strengthen international cooperation to halt deforestation and forest degradation and encourage forest restoration
  4. redirect finance to support more sustainable land-use practices
  5. support the availability and quality of information on forests and commodity supply chains, the access to that information, and support research and innovation

 

Around 10% of the world’s forests, an area larger than the European Union, have been lost worldwide through deforestation over the past 30 years, and about 10% of forests globally are severely fragmented with little or no connectivity. While this is not a new phenomenon, the current scale and pace of destruction is alarming. This magnitude of destruction has significant social, economic and environmental impacts, locally and globally.

Deforestation is one of main drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss, and the EU contributes to it by consuming a significant share of products associated with deforestation. The EU, therefore, has the responsibility to contribute to ending it.

The EUDR prohibits placing or exporting products in/from the EU market that do not comply with its legality and sustainability requirements.

 

Article: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/green-deal-new-law-fight-global-deforestation-and-forest-degradation-driven-eu-production-and-2023-06-29_sl